The information contained in this section applies to IBM WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0.0.9 and Feautre Pack 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.

A demand chain is composed of the enterprises that sell a business's goods or services. For example, a demand chain may be composed of buyers who initiate the sales transaction, the resellers who sell the manufacturer's goods, and the manufacturer who creates the goods. Or a demand chain may be composed of the resellers who sell a manufacturer's goods, the manufacturer who makes the goods, and the distributors who supply the manufacturer's goods to the resellers. Demand chains also support direct sales channels, in which the demand chain owner sells directly to consumers or business partners.

The information contained in this section applies to IBM WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0.0.9 and Feautre Pack 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.

Creating a custom implementation of a WebSphere Commerce store requires a significant amount of planning. From gathering client needs, to deploying the live solution, much work is needed to successfully deploy a custom client store. Use the resources in here to help you plan every phase of store creation.

A fully functional sample online store, provided in store archive format with WebSphere Commerce. Starter stores are samples designed to be used as a base from which a customized online store can be created. Starter stores are translated into several languages and support multiple Web browsers and platforms. Starter stores are fully accessible, with the exception of the Madisons mobile starter store. Accessibility guidelines for mobile devices are not well defined or well established.

This topic provides step-by-step instructions to publish and configure the advanced B2B direct starter store. The advanced B2B direct starter store supports direct selling to other businesses. This store highlights the tasks that a buyer can perform at a seller's e-commerce site. Some of the features included in this starter store are:

A demand chain is composed of the enterprises that sell a business's goods or services. For example, a demand chain may be composed of buyers who initiate the sales transaction, the resellers who sell the manufacturer's goods, and the manufacturer who creates the goods. Or a demand chain may be composed of the resellers who sell a manufacturer's goods, the manufacturer who makes the goods, and the distributors who supply the manufacturer's goods to the resellers. Demand chains also support direct sales channels, in which the demand chain owner sells directly to consumers or business partners.

The Commerce Plaza store is a sample store and part of the demand chain B2B indirect business model. Commerce Plaza allows resellers to purchase products directly from their distributors by transferring their shopping carts to the distributor site. The demand chain business model sample includes the Commerce Plaza site, the catalog asset store, the reseller asset store, and the distributor proxy stores.

You can change general store information, including store name and description, languages and currencies supported, contact and location information, using the Store Profile notebook in the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator.

When you publish the demand chain starter store, many optional features are enabled. For example, there is a field on the store's Registration page that asks customers to specify their gender. If you do not want this field to be displayed in your store, you can remove it through the Change Flow notebook.

Before customers can access a store, the store must be opened. Only stores with a status of Closed can be opened. Closing a store prevents customers from accessing a store. Stores should be closed before making any changes to the store. The Channel Manager can open or close the store for the reseller allowing or preventing customers from accessing the store.

This step requires that an order has been placed in the store, and a simulated distributor. If you do not have a live distributor's site that you can connect to for your testing, you will need a distributor simulator to request a quote, and to submit a shopcart. When you request a quote, you are taken to a live distributor site and get a real-time quote from the distributor. You need something to simulate that process, otherwise, that request can't go anywhere. You will be able to transfer your shopcart, but nothing will happen afterward without a distributor or a simulated distributor.

Commerce Supplier Hub is the new sample store of a Supply chain site provided with WebSphere Commerce. The main site includes the Commerce Supplier Hub, an aggregate or master catalog, and the assets required to publish supplier stores. The Hub is a place where suppliers, and buyers come together. Use this sample to get started on setting up a site where you will be able to host sellers with an aggregate catalog, or to create a sort of a marketplace, where buyers and sellers can come together in one environment.

A JSP code snippet is a code sample that shows you how to add WebSphere Commerce functionality to your store. JSP code snippets may be added to a starter store, or to a store previously published and migrated. JSP code snippets are intended to help you: Quickly add a feature to your store, or add a feature that is not included in one of the starter stores. JSP code snippets use the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL). Each JSP code snippet is well commented, easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to customize.

The following access control policy samples show you how some basic access control policies can be used in the development environment, so that you can quickly test new resources. They are not designed to be used as-is on a WebSphere Commerce production environment, as they do not provide adequate resource protection.

The WebSphere Commerce portlets, when working together using cooperative portlets, can provide customers with a similar shopping experience to that of the WebSphere Commerce consumer direct storefront, while providing merchants with additional online business sales channels to other portal environments.

Demand chain business model

A demand chain is composed of the enterprises that sell a business's goods or services.
For example, a demand chain may be composed of buyers who initiate the sales transaction, the
resellers who sell the manufacturer's goods, and the manufacturer who creates the goods. Or a demand
chain may be composed of the resellers who sell a manufacturer's goods, the manufacturer who makes
the goods, and the distributors who supply the manufacturer's goods to the resellers. Demand chains
also support direct sales channels, in which the demand chain owner sells directly to consumers or
business partners.

The following diagrams illustrate examples of some of the demand chains supported by WebSphere
Commerce.

Buyers, channel partners (resellers), and manufacturers

In this example, buyers purchase goods from a manufacturer's resellers (channel partners).
Resellers, in turn, obtain the goods from the manufacturer, via the manufacturer's hub.

Resellers, manufacturers, and distributors

In this example the manufacturer provides a hub for their channel partners, including resellers.
Resellers and other channel partners may be able to do several functions in this hub, including
locating distributors of the manufacturer's goods.

In order to locate distributors, the reseller might browse a product catalog in the private hub.
If the required products are available from more than one distributor, the reseller can check
product availability and prices for various distributors. Then, if the reseller chooses, they can
split their order between several distributors. The resulting orders are then sent to each
distributor, which complete the transaction and deliver the goods or services to the reseller. The
reseller can then use these goods or services to fulfill its customers' orders.

The demand chain sample site, the Commerce Plaza, is an example of this reseller, manufacturer,
and distributor scenario.

Demand chain stores

The demand chain owner may create a site with stores for its channel partners, such as resellers
or distributors. This reduces the infrastructure costs to the reseller or distributor who may not
have the expertise or capital to create and maintain their own site. A reseller may use the site to
sell goods from the catalog maintained by the demand chain owner, and also offer its own value added
products, services or bundles. The reseller or distributor in this case, can also decide to
administer his or her own store, or leave it to the demand chain owner.

Other scenarios

The examples described in this section are just a few instances of demand chains. The scenario
details may change depending on the type of business being conducted. For example, if the enterprise
is a manufacturer, the purpose of the hub may be to help the manufacturer's resellers locate the
manufacturer's goods from several distributors. If the enterprise is a distributor, the purpose of
the hub may be to help the distributor's resellers find goods or services from several different
suppliers.

Types of stores

The following diagram illustrates the types of stores that compose the demand chain sample.

The demand chain sample site contains a channel hub, and three asset stores: distributor asset
store, catalog asset store, and reseller storefront asset store. The reseller asset store can be
either a consumer direct or B2B direct store and resellers select the store type when they create
the store. Note that the channel hub uses the catalog assets defined in the catalog asset store. The
distributor proxy stores are creating by using the assets from the distributor asset store, while
the reseller stores are created by using the assets from the catalog asset store and reseller
storefront asset store. Resellers may choose to sell a subset of products defined in the shared
catalog via the catalog asset store. They may also create their own products or bundles in their
reseller store.

Demand Chain sample store (Commerce Plaza) overview The Commerce Plaza store is a sample store and part of the demand chain B2B indirect business model. Commerce Plaza allows resellers to purchase products directly from their distributors by transferring their shopping carts to the distributor site. The demand chain business model sample includes the Commerce Plaza site, the catalog asset store, the reseller asset store, and the distributor proxy stores.

Changing store profile informationYou can change general store information, including store name and description, languages and currencies supported, contact and location information, using the Store Profile notebook in the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator.

Configuring the reseller store When you publish the demand chain starter store, many optional features are enabled. For example, there is a field on the store's Registration page that asks customers to specify their gender. If you do not want this field to be displayed in your store, you can remove it through the Change Flow notebook.

Opening or closing stores (Channel Manager)Before customers can access a store, the store must be opened. Only stores with a status of Closed can be opened. Closing a store prevents customers from accessing a store. Stores should be closed before making any changes to the store. The Channel Manager can open or close the store for the reseller allowing or preventing customers from accessing the store.

Transferring a shopcart from the store to the Commerce Plaza This step requires that an order has been placed in the store, and a simulated distributor. If you do not have a live distributor's site that you can connect to for your testing, you will need a distributor simulator to request a quote, and to submit a shopcart. When you request a quote, you are taken to a live distributor site and get a real-time quote from the distributor. You need something to simulate that process, otherwise, that request can't go anywhere. You will be able to transfer your shopcart, but nothing will happen afterward without a distributor or a simulated distributor.